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College Cooking

The skinny on fats; a healthy flip on a classic recipe

By Joel MacKenzie, Contributor

ats can be broken up into
Fe categories: healthy and

unhealthy. While unhealthy
fats are found only in French fries,
healthy fats are, in fact, healthy, and
can be eaten constantly.

Does this sound familiar?
Generalizations such as this are
often made about fats. But they
can’t be defined so rigidly.

Dietary “fats” are fatty acids,
chains of atoms required in a diet.
They act in the body as long-term
energy providers, perform essential
bodily functions, and can provide
many vitamins. A typical adult diet
should be composed of about 15-30
per cent fats, and an active adult
may even need up to 35 per cent.

Fatty acids don’t make anyone
“fat,” per se. Excess body fat is
stored when a body consumes
more calories than it expends; these

nutrients essential to the body. A
ratio of about 2:1 to 4:1 of omega-6
to omega-3 fatty acids is desirable.
The imbalance of more omega-6s to
omega-3s in modern Western diets
can lead to many nasty problems,
including cardiovascular ones,
chronic inflammation, diabetes,
and cancer. Three to five per cent
of one’s daily fatty acids should be
omega-6s, and one to two per cent
should be omega-3s.

The bottom line: an average
healthy diet should be composed
of about 15-30 per cent fat, (about
50-66 grams in a 2,000 calorie
diet); those should be mostly
monounsaturated fatty acids, with
three to five per cent omega-6 fatty
acids, one to two per cent omega-3
fatty acids, and less than eight
per cent from saturated fats. So,
aim to get most of your daily fats
from monounsaturated fatty acids
(mostly from fatty plant foods

“Fatty acids don’t make anyone “fat,” per se. Excess body fat is stored when
a body consumes more calories than it expends; these calories could come
in any form of energy, including fatty acids, carbohydrates, or protein.”

calories could come in any form

of energy, including fatty acids,
carbohydrates, or protein. So high-
fat diets can lead to increased body
fat, but so can high-carb or high-
protein diets, theoretically.

Fatty acids come in many types;
the most important to basic health
knowledge are saturated, trans,
cholesterol, monounsaturated, and
polyunsaturated.

Saturated fats, trans fats, and
cholesterol are typically dubbed
“bad fats.” Saturated and trans
have been linked to heart disease
and some cancers, and a high level
of cholesterol in a diet is linked to
chronic heart and blood diseases.
Saturated fats are found in many
sources that also contain healthier
types of fats; sources (ranging from
least amount to highest) include
high-fat plant foods, fish, chicken,
red meat, dairy, and tropical
oils. Trans fats are only found in
processed foods, and should be
avoided entirely. Cholesterol is
necessary for cell structure, but
is produced by the body and not
required at all in the diet.

Monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated fats are
often dubbed “healthy,” as
monounsaturated ones can protect
against diseases and have been
shown to reduce blood pressure
and enhance blood flow, and
polyunsaturated ones create
omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids,

like olive oil and most nuts, or
from meat sources such as fish or
chicken), and ensure you eat some
omega-6 sources (like soybeans or
grapeseed oil), a little less omega-3
sources (like walnuts, flax seed or
salmon), and limit fried oils and
cholesterol.

Pancakes

For me as a kid, pancakes or waffles
translated to fluffy, white, toasted,
glowing-gold sponges soaked in
syrup. Not the healthiest thing in
the world.

In this recipe, I replaced many
of the saturated fats and cholesterol
in traditional pancake ingredients
(eggs, milk, and oil) with
monounsaturated and omega-6 fats
(in the peanut butter) and omega-3
fats (in the flax seed). The syrup
has been replaced with chocolate
peanut butter sauce, exchanging
syrup’s simple carbohydrates with
natural sugars, fibre, and protein.
The fats, protein, and whole wheat
are healthy and digested slowly,
keeping you full for a long time.

Asmall amount of oil is
necessary for frying. To keep this
amount low, use either a spray-type
oil (like Pam) or put frying oil (like
canola) into a spray bottle.

All of the ingredient prices came
from bulk food section at Save-On-
Foods, except for the almond milk
(Earth’s Own, 1.89 L), the apple
sauce (Mott's, 796 ml), the peanut

butter (Western Family, 500g),
and the artificial vanilla (Western
Family, 125 ml).

Pancakes
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sugar

Dash of salt

1/4 tsp dried ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 tbsp ground flax seed

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

Sauce
1 tbsp natural peanut butter

2 tbsp almond milk
1/4 very ripe banana

1 tbsp water
1/4 tsp cocoa powder

1/4 tsp artificial vanilla

Total cost: $1.42

 

Nutritional info
Pancakes
Calories: 291 cal
Fat: 2.75 g (4%)
Protein: 8.75 ¢

Sauce
Calories: 134.5
Fat: 8 g (12%)
Protein: 4.3 g

Total

Calories: 425.5
Fat: 10.75 g (16%)
Protein: 13.05 g

Thoroughly mix dry ingredients
in one large bowl. Heat the frying
pan on low/medium heat (4/10).
Mix the wet ingredients and the flax
seed in a smaller bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients into the
dry slowly, until there are no dry
spots. The batter should be slightly
lumpy; do not over mix.

Spray the pan with a light layer
of oil. Pour batter for three to four-
inch pancakes; flip when bubbles
start appearing in the middle and/
or the sides begin to brown.

While the pancakes are cooking,
in a small pot over low heat, mix
1 tbsp. of almond milk with 1
tbsp. peanut butter until smooth.
Add banana and another tbsp.
of almond milk; mix /mash until
smooth. Finally add 1 tbsp. water,
vanilla, and cocoa powder. Mix
until smoooooth, and pour over the
pancakes. Boom.

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